Revolutions Per Minute

Blacksmith; 2010

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As odd as it sounds, it's hard to imagine a new Reflection Eternal album as any kind of comeback. The duo's Train of Thought was one of the reasons indie rap felt so vibrant in 2000, and 10 years later it's an underground classic. But from that point onwards, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek have been doing good for themselves on their own. Ever since Jay-Z pointed to him as a lyrical ideal on The Black Album's "Moment of Clarity", Kweli seems to have treated it as both an honor and a challenge. He's subsequently grown into the role of an uncompromising lifer: spitting double-time, folding internal rhymes in on themselves, toying with meter in a way that would leave other MCs tripping over their own tongues, and building his countless metaphors and punchlines into big-picture politics and vivid narratives. And Hi-Tek's production style has developed a similar non-complacent comfortability, subtly honing down and polishing his intricate club-caliber neo-soul to the point where it sneaks up on you instead of knocking you over.

So Revolutions Per Minute isn't as momentous a revival as it might seem-- it's just, well, another good Talib Kweli album with more solid Hi-Tek beats, an example of good chemistry between two artists who happen to have good chemistry with lots of other collaborators. And it might be tempting to take something like that for granted, maybe start picking apart its flaws instead. There are a couple: It's never a good idea to open an album with that old "I'm an escapee from a 1950s educational film and I'm here to tell you how record players work" bit. Someone decided to invite Chester French over for "Get Loose" for some reason. And while the Estelle-featuring "Midnight Hour" makes for a better Black Eyed Peas single than the Black Eyed Peas, farty big-band horns and cornily delivered lines like "We riders on the storm/ Touch me baby, like the Doors" aren't why you are interested in this record.

But those are minor demerits, and the things people do listen for-- conscious yet unpretentious lyricism delivered with acrobatic dexterity over on-point, no-gimmick beats-- are all over this album. Kweli and Hi-Tek never had to rework their styles to stay on the cusp of mainstream-name status, so they've spent more time playing to their strengths than distracting themselves from them. When Kweli gets political (depicting the oil industry's impact on the Middle East and Nigeria on "Ballad of the Black Gold"), deconstructs the industry (the fame-as-seductress "Got Work") or just goes battle-ready with three of his sharpest peers (the Jay Electronica/J. Cole/Mos Def posse cut "Just Begun"), he finds new lyrical angles on subjects with which he's long been familiar. And whether Hi-Tek pulls together a minimalist beat with lots of breathing room ("City Playgrounds"; "In the Red") or a dense, lush track piled high with soul vocals ("In This World"; "Ends"), he entrusts his work to an MC who bridges freestyle spontaneity and crafted precision. Their easy stylistic rapport shouldn't be a shock, but it's still a minor surprise how rewarding it can be. Waiting a decade for Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek to collaborate on an album might have resulted in a nostalgic reunion. But while you were waiting, two rewarding careers built themselves up into the only kind of legacy that could produce it.